Christian world

Today the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church celebrates the annual feast day of St. George. Today marks the martyrdom of this Saint. St. George is a very popular Saint in Ethiopia. He is one of patron saints of the country, as well as it’s military, and the Imperial family. His image was on the Emperor’s standard, on the front of the Emperor’s crown, and a mosaic mural of him decorated the front of Ethiopia’s parliament building until it was painted over during the rule of the Marxist Derg.

A new survey shows that nearly every Romanian professes belief in God, though there is a significant disparity between those who profess faith and those who actively live a religious life. The study conducted by the Freidrich Ebert Romania Foundation shows that 95% of Romanians believe in God, but only 21% attend church weekly, reports the Romanian Orthodox Church’s Basilica News Agency, with reference to agerpres.ro.

A Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Patriarch John X at the Church of the Holy Cross in Damascus on April 22 on the 5th anniversary of the kidnapping of the Aleppo bishops, namely Bishop Youhanna Ibrahim and Bishop Paul Yazigi as well as for all the abducted people.The Liturgy was concelebrated by several bishops, priests and deacons as well as attended by a large number of priests, nuns and a large gathering of believers.At the end of the Divine Liturgy, a special prayer was held in the memory of the kidnapped hierarchs and was followed by a joint statement issued by Patriarch John X of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East and Ignatius Aphrem II of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East.Following is the full text of the statement:

Invited by the co-chairmen, HE Metropolitan Emmanuel of France and HE Metropolitan Bishoy of Damiette, of the Joint International Theological Commission of the two families of the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and with the presence, blessings and gracious hospitality of His Holiness Aram I, a working group met in Antelias on April 12th, in order to discuss developments of the bilateral theological dialogue and prepare the upcoming meeting of the joint commission. The working group was composed of bishops of the two families.

George Alexander, Secretary of Orthodoxy Cognate PAGE (Pan-Orthodox Christian Society) visited the Information Services department of the Serbian Orthodox Church on 12th April 2018.

Archdeacon Radomir Rarric, the chief of Dept. received OCP Secretary. The visit was part of strengthening the existing fraternal relations between the department of Information Services of Serbian Patriarchate and the Public Relations and Information Services dept. of Orthodoxy Cognate PAGE. Archdeacon Radomir was presented with the icon of three saints, copy of Orthodox Dilemma, and traditional Kerala lamp. George was presented with a New Testament copy of the Serbian version of the Holy Bible. Vukica Pavicevic, aide to the Secretary in Belgrade was present for the occasion.

A Statement Issued by the Patriarchates of Antioch and all the East for the Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, and Greek-Melkite Catholic

Damascus, 14 April 2018

God is with us; Understand all ye nations and submit yourselves!

We, the Patriarchs: John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, Ignatius Aphrem II, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, and Joseph Absi, Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem, condemn and denounce the brutal aggression that took place this morning against our precious country Syria by the USA, France and the UK, under the allegations that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons. We raise our voices to affirm the following:

His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II visited His Beatitude Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Damascus. During their meeting, His Holiness conveyed to His Beatitude Easter greetings and discussed several church issues.